Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks on the issue of tensions in Ukraine. The two agreed to communicate via video call on Tuesday local time.
“Biden will underscore the U.S. concern with Russia’s military activities on the border with Ukraine and reaffirm the United States’ support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. .
The two will also talk about bilateral relations and implementation of the agreements reached at their Geneva summit in June, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Other topics that the two Kremlin leaders will discuss with the White House are strategic stability, cyber and regional issues.
“The conversation will indeed take place on Tuesday,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters. “Bilateral relations, of course Ukraine and the realization of the agreements reached in Geneva are on the main agenda,” he said.
The exact time of the call was not disclosed. More than 94,000 Russian troops are believed to have gathered near the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Moscow may be planning a large-scale military strike in late January, citing intelligence reports. US officials have come to the same conclusion, they said.
Biden has previously rejected Russia’s demands for security guarantees in the region.
“My hope is that we will have a long discussion with Putin,” Biden told reporters on Friday as he departed for a weekend trip to Camp David. “I don’t accept anyone’s red line,” he said.
The US president said he and his advisers were preparing a comprehensive series of initiatives aimed at deterring Putin from an invasion. He gave no further details, but the government has discussed partnering with European allies to impose more sanctions on Russia.
Separately, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington was committed to ensuring that Ukraine had what it needed to protect its territory. Austin added that there is a lot of room for diplomacy and leadership to work in Ukraine.
As is well known, US-Russian relations have deteriorated over the years, most notably with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, its 2015 intervention in Syria and allegations by US intelligence of meddling in the 2016 election won by former President Donald Trump.
Recently, Joe Biden is working on a plan to make it harder for Vladimir Putin to make a decision to attack Ukraine. The heated conflict between Russia and Ukraine raises high concerns that Russia will carry out a large-scale attack on Ukraine in early 2022.
(sys/roy)
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